Five talking points from the Day 4 of the India-Bangladesh Test

1. Indian pacers can hold their line and length

How often have we seen, Indian pacers, at least in the last five years, outshadow the spinners in India? Yes, it was the case in this Test against Bangladesh. The Indian pacers- especially the pair of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav - produced some brilliant spells on the third day and continued their crafty display in the morning session of toda. It was a display of high-quality reverse swing bowling by both of them.

The way Bhuvneshwar Kumar set up the wicket of overnight unbeaten Mehedi Hassan was one for the sore eyes. Similarly, Umesh Yadav kept bowling short balls from the other end, making life difficult of the batsmen. On a pitch that hasn’t yet broken enough to bring Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja into play in a big way, Kohli might have to turn to Umesh more than a few times on Monday to create a stir.

Obviously, these are good signs before the series against Australia. 

2. Mushfiqur Rahim shows patience

Over the years, Bangladesh has been criticised for their lack of patience in Test Cricket. 

But Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim has shown a tremendous amount of patience and took the team to 388 with a gritty 127 off 262 balls. Rahim, overnight on 81, took Bangladesh from 322 for 6 and frustrated India stitching small but crucial stands with the lower-order batsmen.

The way he battled through the innings was a fine example of how to counter quality bowling. He waited for the loose deliveries and made sure to treat those to their merit.  Against the turning balls, Rahim chose the cautious approach and carefully constructed his innings. 

For all the talks surrounding his lacunae, Rahim has shown why he is considered one of the finest batsmen from Bangladesh. 

3. India’s tryst with wrong DRS continues

“Listen to the head, not to the heart while taking DRS decision,” said Sunil Gavaskar on air during the India-England Test series. But it seems, India hasn't taken any leaf out of that book, as their tryst with DRS has continued to go in a horrible direction. 

In the fag end of the day, India lost one review when Ashwin’s ball seemed to take an outside edge of Soumya Sarkar’s blade. Although the umpire ruled that not-out, Kohli opted to go for the review after consulting with Wriddhiman Saha and Ajinkya Rahane. Both convinced the skipper to go for a review, which was eventually denied by the third umpire. 

4. Ashwin becomes the fastest bowler to take 250 wickets

Ravichandran Ashwin has become the fastest bowler to reach 250 wickets in Test cricket’s history taking only 45 Tests to reach the landmark. Ashwin broke the record of Australian pace legend Dennis Lillee who had achieved it in 48 Tests.

No.1 bowler in ICC Test ranking, Ashwin had taken 248 wickets before coming into this Test. But in the first innings of the Bangladesh innings, he had to face the stumbling block of a dead pitch. He could pick only a single wicket on the third day, dismissing Shakib Al Hasan in his 15th over.

But, on day four, Ashwin wasted very little time in getting to the landmark by dismissing Rahim. The batsman looked to sweep his carrom ball but got a bit of glove on that, which was easily pouched by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. 

Now, Ashwin needs only 17 wickets to equal the tally of former India captain and spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi, who took 266 wickets from 67 Tests. 

5. Spin has come into play

For the first three days, or even until the first two sessions of the fourth day, the Hyderabad wicket didn’t provide any assistance to the bowlers. Although the pacers got some purchase from the wicket, India’s spinning duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were kept at bay by the Bangla batsmen.

But in the last session of the day, the wicket showed some sign of breaking and Ashwin and Jadeja picked up three wickets in the second innings. Ashwin accounted for Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque while Jadeja removed Soumya Sarkar for 42 leaving the visitors at a difficult position. 

Most importantly, the wicket showed a decent amount or turn and that must be the cause of Bangladesh’s worry while coming to bat on the final day.